Vieira Aids James Cameron in Whitewashing Anti-Military 'Avatar'

Director/producer James Cameron was invited on the Today show Wednesday, for a second time,
to promote his movie Avatar (as if the top grossing movie of all-time
really needed it). Co-host Meredith Vieira allowed Cameron to brag
about screening his anti-military sci-fi flick to servicemen and women
on an aircraft carrier but never brought up the criticism, coming from the enlisted, that his movie portrays them as villains.

Using
the booking hook that Cameron is a Canadian, Vieira, hosting the show
from the Olympics site in Vancouver, first prompted him to talk about
the pro-environmental theme of Avatar, to which Cameron absurdly
claimed: "Trying to find money to make an environmental movie, you can't do it,
either as a documentary or as a feature. So I thought, alright, fine
I'll do this big action adventure on another planet but there will be
this theme woven through it." [audio available here]

MEREDITH VIEIRA: You know you talk about reaction from
around the world. I know you were recently in the Mideast. You screened
the movie for some of the troops that are stationed there. What was
that experience like for you James?

JAMES CAMERON: It, it was
amazing. We flew onto an aircraft carrier, did the whole arrestor hook
thing and shot off the steam catapult. That was, that was the, the,
the, you know it was just amazing to see these kids, kind of like these
young Olympians. You know you've got, you watch these kind of Top Gun
images of them firing the steam catapult and doing all this stuff and
you think these guys must be in their, their thirties, they're so, so
technical and precise. They're 19, they're 20 years old and they're so
focused and so disciplined. It was, it was, you know such an
inspiration. I actually wound up signing, I made it my personal goal to
sign an autograph and pose for a picture with every single person on
the aircraft carrier. But they, they had to leave a few to run the
reactor for awhile. So I think it was 3300 crew members and it was
just, they kept thanking me and I said, "No we're here to thank you
for, for, for what you're doing for the sacrifice that you make. Being
away from your family and your, and your loved ones." You know and of
course they love, we showed them the movie, they loved, they loved the
film.

The following exchange was aired on the February 17 edition of the Today show:

MEREDITH
VIEIRA: And it's a, and it's a movie with a message, a message that's
very important to you about the environment, isn't it?

JAMES
CAMERON: Well it's why I made the film in the first place. But I
thought you know, you can't, trying to find money to make an
environmental movie, you, you can't do it, either as a documentary or
as a feature. So I thought, alright, fine I'll do this big action
adventure on another planet but there will be this theme woven through
it, and I think that's part of how it's connecting for people around
the world. They're having an emotional reaction and it's reminding them
of how they felt when they were a kid in the woods, feeling connected
to the world and, and it's something that, that we're losing in our
society. You know?

VIEIRA: You know you talk about reaction
from around the world. I know you were recently in the Mideast. You
screened the movie for some of the troops that are stationed there.
What was that experience like for you James?

CAMERON: It, it
was amazing. We flew onto an aircraft carrier, did the whole arrestor
hook thing and shot off the steam catapult. That was, that was the,
the, the, you know it was just amazing to see these kids, kind of like
these young Olympians. You know you've got, you watch these kind of Top
Gun images of them firing the steam catapult and doing all this stuff
and you think these guys must be in their, their thirties, they're so,
so technical and precise. They're 19, they're 20 years old and they're
so focused and so disciplined. It was, it was, you know such an
inspiration. I actually wound up signing, I made it my personal goal to
sign an autograph and pose for a picture with every single person on
the aircraft carrier. But they, they had to leave a few to run the
reactor for awhile. So I think it was 3300 crew members and it was
just, they kept thanking me and I said, "No we're here to thank you
for, for, for what you're doing for the sacrifice that you make. Being
away from your family and your, and your loved ones." You know and of
course they love, we showed them the movie, they loved, they loved the
film.

VIEIRA: You know, you, you make such epic films, would you ever consider making a war movie?

CAMERON:
Well yeah, I mean I've been fascinated by that. I'm fascinated by the,
by the, by the issue of war and the damage that it does to, you know
to, to physically but also psychically, psychologically. You know it's
a theme that, that, that I'm interested in and, and you know I have
some projects in mind for that. But, you know, it's also, you know
you're going down a grim path when you do that. I made, I made a film
about the, the battleship Bismarck when we dove to the Bismarck, did
the dive, you know three miles down and analyzed the wreck site. And
just going down that path of, of that history, of that battle, you know
was, was quite grim and horrifying. And that's 60 years later. And why
are we talking about this?

-Geoffrey Dickens is the senior news analyst at the Media Research Center.

Federal employees and military personnel can donate to the Media Research Center through the Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. To donate to the MRC, use CFC #12489. Visit the CFC website for more information about giving opportunities in your workplace.